A Very Full House
by Projectcompassion418
Summary: When Stacy dies Owen feel he can no longer give the children the care they need. Deb and Grayson agree to step up and take care of the kids until Owen gets back on his feet. Meanwhile Little Stacy gets an infection after a dog bite leading Grayson and Deb to have to make a very hard decision. Flashbacks included
1. A Dog Named Violet

Disclaimer: I don't own Drop Dead Diva. This story follows  
\- Fighting For Her Life  
\- Deb Goes to Law School  
and  
\- Three Girls One Boy and A Dog Named Violet

* * *

Grayson walked into the house. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"I have a surprise for everyone," he said.  
The triplets hurried over to their father. Deb carried Ana Grace who was only a few weeks old.

"Hi honey," Grayson said, "How was your day?"

"Great. Only a couple of things went a little haywire. The kids were fighting because they all wanted to hold Ana at the same time."

"Mommy let me go first," Jane said, "Cause I was the youngest of Stacy and Isaac and me. Isaac went second. Stacy went third."

"But I go first next time," said Isaac.

"Yeah and then me," Stacy said.

"I'm so proud of you kids for figuring that out," Grayson said, "In fact I got a dog."

"REALLY," everyone exclaimed including Deb.

"Her name is Violet," Grayson said.  
Deb kissed him.

"Okay kids lets say hello to Violet and then we'll go out to dinner."


	2. Remembering

The kids loved playing with Violet. Grayson and Deb watched. Deb leaned into Grayson's arm and he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," Deb replied, "You never did tell me how you came to accept me as Jane that I was Deb before I woke back up as Deb."  
Grayson laughed.

"Actually," he said, "That was thanks to Luke."

((Flashback))  
As Luke walked into Grayson's office he remembered him.

"W-what's up man," Grayson asked.

"Actually I'm not a man," Luke said, "I'm an angel."

"What?"  
Luke started to glow. Grayson sank back to his chair.

"Okay. You really are an angel!"

"Yes. I was Jane/Deb's guardian angel. I'm the reason she didn't tell you the truth."  
Before Grayson could respond Luke disappeared.


	3. The Awful Phone Call

Grayson and Deb were jarred from their thoughts with the phone ringing. Deb picked it up.

"Hello?"  
There was a pause. Deb's face turned pale.

"WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS? PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE!"  
There was another pause.

"Of course not," she said, "I- we'll be right over!"  
Deb hung up and burst into tears. Grayson wrapped his arms around her.

"Honey what happened," he asked.

"It's Stacy," Deb said, "She's d-e-a-d"  
She spelled it because she didn't want the kids knowing.

"What! What happened," Grayson asked.  
Deb just cried. Grayson held her tighter trying to comfort her even through his own grief.


	4. Nothing Will Change Reality

Deb called her mother who was all too happy to stay with the kids. They would take Ana with them to Owen's while Bobbi took the triplets out to dinner. They were not going to tell the kids about Stacy's death until it was absolutely essential.

"Stace," Deb said, "Isaac, Jane... listen daddy and I have to go out for a little while. Grandma Bobbi is going to take you out to dinner. If you're good for Grandma Bobbi when we get back we'll have popcorn and watch Barney."

The kids cheered. Bobbi came over 20 minutes later.

"I'm sorry I was so late honey," Bobbi said, "Traffic was terrible."  
'Nothing will bring Stacy back,' Deb thought.

"It's alright mom. Now the kids can get whatever they want but remember no ice cream. Isaac is allergic and I don't want him feeling left out."

"Of course honey," Bobbi said.

"Come on Deb," Grayson said putting an arm around her.  
They drove the short distance to the house that belonged to Owen and Stacy. Owen opened the door. He hugged them.

"Thanks for coming over," he said.

"Of course," Grayson said, "any time you need us."


	5. Support

There was a lot going on this evening. The twins were fighting over some toy. The youngest French child was having a tantrum. Owen was crying and trying to keep everything under control.

"I feel lost," Owen said.

"Listen to me," Grayson said, "We're going to get through this together."  
Deb calmed the kids down.

"Could you take the kids," Owen said, "Just until I get on my feet. I want the best for my children and right now I can't provide that."

"Of course," Deb said, "Debbie, Dominick, Princess (Princess was the youngest French child's nickname) listen. You guys are going to have a long sleepover with your cousins."

The kids cheered. They didn't understand what was going on.  
...

"When you lose someone you love you have a ton of regret," Grayson said, "But as someone who came through that I have to tell you it gets better. You will get on your feet again Owen. I'm telling you this as a friend. You're going to feel anger. You'll try to justify. Well maybe this or maybe that etc. A million what ifs are going to go through your mind-"

"Grayson," Owen said, "NOT really feeling better here"


	6. I Still Do

After a few hours Deb and Grayson packed up the kids and started the short drive over to their own house. They gathered the kids together.

"Debbie, Dominick, Stacy, Isaac, Jane and Princess... I need your eyes on me."  
Everyone (including the baby) focused on Deb.

"Something happened to Aunt Stacy," she began, "to your mommy Debbie and Dominick and Princess and now mommy/Aunt Stacy lives in heaven."

"Can we go visit her," Isaac asked.

"No... not yet but you're all going to be staying here. Debbie, Dominick and Princess you guys are going to be living here for awhile."

"Cool," the kids said and got to playing.  
Deb sighed. Obviously they didn't need as big a discussion as she was afraid they would.  
The baby started crying. Deb could tell that she was hungry and nursed her. She then changed her diaper.  
Deb felt tears pool in her eyes. She would miss Stacy so much. Grayson rushed to her side.

"I miss her too," he said.

"Stacy and I were best friends since we were 3 years old," Deb said crying.

"She's in heaven now," Grayson reminded her, "and there's always... the return button"

Deb smiled through her tears.

"You know," she said, "I used to hate pain and think will it ever stop. I still do."


	7. Band-Aids are usful pain just hurts

Grayson sighed because he felt the same way. He heard that pain is useful. Band-aids are useful. Pain just... hurts. Worse then your own pain though is when someone you love is hurting. When someone you love is hurting all you want to do is protect them. You wish you could take their hurt for them. Emotional hurt you can't take off of them but you can shelter them. You can hold them while they cry. There is a lot you can do but you still feel damn helpless. You want to scream at times.

Grayson knew he had his faults. There are things he had done before that he would have done differently in hindsight. Hindsight is 20/20 after all.

The kids were playing hot potato. They were singing a song they made up.

 _Shake it here_  
 _And shake it there_  
 _Shake it shake it everywhere_  
 _Shake it two and shake it one_  
 _Shake it shake it has begun_

The song made no sense but yet it was so beautiful. The innocence behind the game. Nobody lost. Nobody was out. They just had fun. They just loved each other.

"We're going to get through this Deb," Grayson said, "We're going to get through all of this."


	8. Little Stacy

Stacy was the oldest of four. Now she was the oldest of seven. There was Stacy. She was the leader of the pack. She wasn't afraid of anything. Once a teacher threatened to hit Jane if she was naughty and Stacy said, "I'll just tell my mommy and daddy."

The teacher said there was no rules against that and Stacy said, "my mommy are lawyers so I know you're not telling the truth."

She was four years old. Stacy was the protector of her brother and sisters. She thought of Debbie, Dominic and Princess as her sisters.  
Stacy was smart. She was funny. Stacy who she was named after once commented that she wouldn't be surprised if Little Stacy grew up to be the first president of the United States of America.

She was also the one most likely to get into trouble. She often got scraped up from running around. She broke her arm once trying to lift a bike when it fell on a bird. ((She managed to save the bird)).  
Stacy was loyal to a fault. She would rather she take the blame even if she didn't do it then let someone she loves get in trouble. Of course being that her parents don't punish (she never even got a time out or scolded) it was easy for her to be loyal. Nonetheless it was a trait that her parents were proud of.  
Stacy was most likely to be a lawyer like her parents or even make it to the white house. She was always told she could do anything she wants. If she didn't succeed the first time she would have to try again. That was Stacy and she would always get it right!


	9. Naughty Thing Good Girl

Deb looked out the window. Something felt strange. She was alone. Grayson had taken the kids to the park. Deb just didn't want to go. She missed Stacy. It was really a bad day. All the kids had gotten in trouble. Stacy fell down and twisted her ankle. Isaac painted on the bathroom mirror with nail polish. Isaac was the artist in the family.  
Seeing everything was out of control Grayson (GOD bless him) volunteered to take the kids to the park and let them run off their energy. Deb was relieved.

Had Deb and Grayson been the type of parents that believed in punishment she would have thought going to the park was counter intuitive. Instead she thought it was a great idea.

Grayson took Violet to the park too. Her day was about to go from really bad to much worse. The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Deb we have a problem," Grayson said, "We had to go to the hospital."

"What happened?"

"Stacy was playing with Violet and Violet bit her ankle to the bone in one bite."

"I'm on my way," Deb said, "Put the phone to Violet's ear."

"Okay," Grayson said.

"VIOLET NO! NAUGHTY THING YOU DID. YOU'RE A GOOD GIRL BUT WHAT YOU DID WAS NAUGHTY"


	10. Stacy's Brother

Stacy was asleep. The doctor managed to save her ankle. It was really bad though. She would have to be in the hospital for several days if not weeks. Deb shuttered to think it could be months.

"Mommy," Isaac said, "I wanna see Stacy."

"Okay sweetie," Deb said, "But she's asleep right now. We'll come back tomorrow."  
Isaac was the sweetest of the triplets. He was the sensitive one.  
Isaac had some difficulties. His sight was bad. He could see but it was blurry. He wore glasses which helped.

"He's really worried honey," Grayson said, "Maybe we can just let him peak in to show him she's alright?"  
Deb nodded. She lifted him up to the window.  
Before anyone could say anything he ran in as soon as she put him down. He held her hand and kissed her forehead. He whispered something to her and she smiled in her sleep.

"Isaac Gray," Grayson said softly, "It's time to go now honey."

Isaac complied and giving his sister one last kiss he followed his parents and sisters and brother out of the hospital.

"Good boy," Deb said.

When they got home Violet barked and licked them. Deb pet Violet for a few minutes, fed her and then put the kids to bed... as they were tired.


	11. Violet's thoughts

Deb sat on the sofa petting Violet for a long time. She was already done telling Violet off. Violet had done something bad but she was a good girl. She knew Stacy still loved Violet. Part of her was furious. Part of her wanted to put Violet to sleep. But she still loved Violet and she wouldn't hurt the kids like that.

"I forgive you Violet," Deb said, "I know you're just a puppy. You thought you were playing. But you can't bite anyone anymore. That's not okay. I'm not happy about that."  
Violet looked up. She had such sad eyes.  
((Whimper))  
'I didn't mean to hurt her. I got scared. She startled me.'

((Woof))  
'I'm not a bad girl. I'm a good girl. I really am a good girl."  
((Pant))  
'I love it when you pet me'  
((Bark))  
'I want a treat'  
Deb threw the ball to Violet for a little while.

"Come on Violet. It's time for your treat"  
((Woof))  
'I love you'.


	12. In The End

Stacy recovered and was back home in 3 months. She quickly forgave Violet.


End file.
